Microsoft & Apple attack Android

When patents attack Android. I have worked in the tech sector for over two decades.

Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other’s throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on. Here is what’s happening: Android is on fire. More than 550,000 Android devices are activated every day, through a network of 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers. Android and other platforms are competing hard against each other, and that’s yielding cool new devices and amazing mobile apps for consumers.
Microsoft Fires Back With A Missile. Earlier today, Google came out swinging.

Seemingly sick of being continuously slapped in the face by the patent issue, Google’s SVP and Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, wrote a blog post calling out several of Google’s rivals for attempting to use “bogus patents” to destroy Android. Chief among the rivals called out was Microsoft. Drummond noted that the software giant had been getting in bed with other rivals to hurt Google.
Google: Patently Absurd. Wednesday, 3 August 2011 David Drummond, Google senior vice president and chief legal officer, “When Patents Attack Android”: But Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents.

They’re doing this by banding together to acquire Novell’s old patents (the “CPTN” group including Microsoft and Apple) and Nortel’s old patents (the “Rockstar” group including Microsoft and Apple), to make sure Google didn’t get them; seeking $15 licensing fees for every Android device; attempting to make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android (which we provide free of charge) than Windows Mobile; and even suing Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it. So if Google had acquired the rights to these patents, that would have been OK.
Google Should Publicly Oppose Software Patents - Timothy B. Lee - Disruptive Economics. Google publicly accuses Apple, Microsoft, Oracle of patent bullying.

Get out the fire extinguishers, because the patent fight between the tech titans is heating up.

Microsoft Responds To Google’s Response To Microsoft’s Response. If you thought that Microsoft and Google, two massive public companies, would quickly and quietly retire behind the scenes to continue their fight after their very public back-and-forth over the past couple of days, you’d be wrong.

Well, maybe they are fighting behind the scenes too, but the pissing match continues in public as well. Good for us! In the interest of covering both sides of the story (and certainly not because this storyline is full of great fodder, generating massive interest — and pageviews), here’s the latest retort from Microsoft.
Why Did Google Blog About Patents Today? Because The Nortel Loss Was Just The Beginning. As you’ve undoubtedly seen by now, Google decided to go on the offensive today with regard to patents.

No, they didn’t go after any company for violating their patents. Nor did they spend billions acquiring new ones. Instead, David Drummond, Google’s SVP and Chief Legal Officer, took to the Google Blog to lash out at Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and others for using “bogus patents” to attack their Android mobile platform. But why now? In the past, Google has remained fairly mum on the topic. When Google lost the Nortel bidding, they’re believed to have bid north of $4 billion before dropping out. Both Apple and Google have been looking into making bids to acquire InterDigital, according to multiple reports. In other words, this latest battle is going to be insane.
Tiny step toward patent reform?
The public row between Microsoft and Google continues, with both Microsoft and Google issuing new responses to one another over Google's original accusation of patent bullying.

The basic gist is this: Google says Microsoft's invitation for Google to join the Novell patent consortium was a "false 'gotcha!'
" that would have put Android at a disadvantage, while Microsoft asserts that Google merely wanted to assert the same patents against others. Both parties say that the other has not directly addressed their core arguments. The backstory. Google Buys IBM Patents. Google buys Motorola for its patent portfolio. The Microsoft vs.

Motorola patent case just took a new turn on August 15, with Google's announcement that it plans to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Microsoft and Motorola have been warring over patents for the past several months. Microsoft sued Motorola on October 1, 2010, over alleged infringement of Motorola’s Android smartphones on Microsoft’s patents. On November 9, Microsoft sued Motorola again over wireless and video coding patents that are used by the Xbox and smartphones. In the latter case, Microsoft claimed that Motorola is charging excessive royalties for its patents.
Google Bought Motorola for More Than Patents, Schmidt Says. Google Inc.

(GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt said his company’s planned $12.5 billion purchase of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. was aimed at acquiring products, and not merely patents. “We did it for more than just patents,” Schmidt said in a conversation with Salesforce.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff. “The Motorola team has some amazing products.” The deal was aimed at helping Mountain View, California- based Google expand in smartphones in a rivalry with Apple Inc. Schmidt also praised former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who stepped down last week, and said that he’s “proud” of his stint as an Apple director. “It’s certainly the best performance of a CEO in 50 years,” Schmidt said of Jobs. Schmidt was on Apple’s board while he was CEO of Google. To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco at aricadela@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net.